“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20).
That Bible verse has stirred up a hornets’ nest of controversy at the Air Force Academy. It all started when a cadet at the Academy hand wrote the above Scripture verse on a white board hanging on the door of his dorm room. An anonymous person complained of being offended by the verse, and the AFA forced the cadet to erase the verse. Why? They said that Galatians 2:20 could “cause subordinates to doubt the leader’s religious impartiality.”
There are two reasons why every Christian should be alarmed by this. The first one has to do with our religious freedom.
Have we lost our Constitutional guarantee of “the free exercise” of religion in the First Amendment? The AFA cadet was merely declaring a personal belief. The Academy has no rules about what can or cannot be posted on a cadet’s white board. Have we now come to the place where religious freedom ends anytime someone claims to be offended? Doesn’t a Christian cadet have the right to freely express his faith?
Think about it. How could a military leader’s authority be undermined just because he believes that Jesus paid for his sins? Retired Army General Jerry Boykin remarked that, “If a Scripture scares the faculty this much, then it is unlikely that they will be very effective when confronted by a committed enemy who is willing to die for his or her beliefs.” He went on to say, “This academy should be training warriors who can deal with difficult situations and determined enemies. A Scripture is hardly a threat.”
There is another, even more crucial, issue that every Christian must think about. What should we do if our government tells us to disobey clear instructions from our Commanding Officer, our Savior Jesus Christ?
Just before Jesus left for heaven, He told His followers to, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15). We do that gladly because real and lasting life is only found in Christ, “For in It is fascinating to me that a modern enemy of Christ understands this issue clearly. Mikey Weinstein, an atheist activist and head of the so-called “Military Freedom Religion Foundation,” claims that the posting of a Bible verse proves that this cadet is following Christ’s Great Commission. (You can find that command in Matthew 28:19 were Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…”) Mr. Weinstein says it is wrong for a Christian to obey the Great Commission, “when they want to follow the Great Commission in a time, place or manner that violates the Constitution or DOD [Department of Defense] directives. In this case, this is a perfect example. Putting those messages up are a violation of time, place and manner and that moves you into the fundamentalist Christianity perspective.” Mr. Weinstein seems to feel that the fundamentals of Christianity are something dangerous that needs to be suppressed. Nothing could be further from the truth. The term “gospel” that describes the message of Jesus means GOOD NEWS! Jesus told His followers to share the message of the Gospel with “All the world.” One cadet at the AFA, told Todd Starnes, a Fox News reporter that, “It’s been suggested that we keep our faith to ourselves. It’s even too risky to go out into the hallway and talk to a Christian friend about your faith. It’s because there are people here who are so easily offended. If someone overheard us talking about Christianity, they could file a complaint. They could say we were having that discussion in a public space.” Our armed forces aren’t allowed to talk publicly about their faith in Jesus? Actually, this attack on Christianity is not a new problem (although it is new in our country). In Acts, Chapter 5, some early followers of Christ were sharing their faith—even though the authorities had warned them no to do it. They arrested those Christians, and then told them, “‘We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name,[Jesus] and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching….’ But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men’” (Acts 5:28–29). Paul explained that Christians should “not [be] ashamed of the gospel, [the good news that Jesus has paid for our sins] for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” (Romans 1:16). Once you have experienced the power of Christ that sets you free from sin and its punishment, then you can’t help but want to share that good news with everyone around you. I know that even Mikey Weinstein would change his mind about sharing the Gospel if he would embraced what Jesus did for him. If he followed Christ, he would become a new person from the inside out, and then he could also say that Jesus “loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20). Jesus did that for me, and that is why I will never back away from sharing my faith in Christ no matter who attacks me.
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